Supplemental sole for shoes.



1.v w. BECK.

SUPPLEMENTAL SOLE FOR'SHOES.

APPLlcATloN FILED AuG.|6, 1917.

1;,292,681. Patented @11.28, 1919.

g5 w II H 5 '0 n JbhnWBeCK f MMM@ UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEToE.

TOHN W. BECK, OF WASHINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

SUPPLEMENTAL SOLE FOR SHOES.

To all whom t may concern: Be it lmown that I, Jol-1N W. BECK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wash- `tin shops and factories,

'slipping ington, in the county of Washington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Supplemental Soles for Shoes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a new and useful supplemental sole for shoes and is primarily designedl for use upon the soles of shoes of persons walking in mines, mills, foundries, quarries, and all such occupations wherein the boots or shoes of the operators are subjected to very great wear, danger of puncture, and the like, and is an improvement of my former Patent Number 639,651, granted to me December 19, 1899. j

One of the aims of the present invention is to provide a supplemental sole of an exceedingly flexible nature, provided with means for efficiently securing the same upon the sole of an ordinary boot or shoe in such a manner as to render it practically impossible to tear the supplemental sole from the shoe sole by its contact withy obstructions upon a surface, or by the entering o f sharp pieces of metal between the supplemental sole and the ordinary sole and resulting in either cutting the securing members or prying the supplemental sole from the ordinary sole.

Another aim of my invention is to provide the supplemental sole with4 a novel form of calks which not only provide efficient antimembers but also provides efficient protective members yfor the screws, nails` or other desirable securing means, employed 'for maintaining the supplemental sole in L,operative position upon the sole of the boot 'or shoe. Y y

. A further aimV of my invention is to pro- 'duce'a fiexible supplemental sole constructed of flexible material andgrooved or scored in `a manner yto divide the ,sole into sectors which are maintained inI assembled relation `by a thin connecting strip at the bottom of the scores or grooves until the supplemental sole `is applied to the sole of a shoe, whereby the thin connecting strips will become ruptured by the bending of the sole thereby sep- @rating the -respective sectors from' each Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

Application led August 16, 1917. Serial No. 186,441.

other and adding to the flexibility of the supplemental sole and ease of comfort to the wearer of the boot or shoe.

A further aim of my invention is to provide the supplemental sole with members for engaging the edges of the forward portion of the shoe sole to provide guard members to prevent the introduction of foreign matter between the supplemental sole and the shoe sole and at the same time the members providing additional means for securing the supplemental sole upon the shoe sole.

A further aim of my invention is to provide means for efficiently protecting the toe proper of a boot or shoe and at points most likely to be punctured and thereby endanger the foot of the wearer.

A still further aim of my invention is to produce a supplemental sole for the boots and shoes of mill workers and the like,

which is simple in construction, efficient and the subject matter of the claims, and the several views illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of the supplemental sole in its complete form.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the front portion of a shoe, showing the supplemental sole in operative secured position thereon. j j

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view, on line 3 3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow, showing the detail construction of the'supplemental sole and the means for securing the same upon the shoe sole. l

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view through one of the hollow calks employed with one of the securing screws projecting therethrough. ,j

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side viewof the front portion of a shoe, showing the supplemental sole secured thereon and the toe protector or guard member employed in conjunction therewith. 4

Referring to the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, 1

' sole.

denotes the forward portion of a boot or shoe and 2 the leather sole thereof.

The base 3 of the supplemental solefwhich I employ may be formed of any suitable alloy, metal or composition, `but is'preferably constructed of flexible steel and may beformed of any suitable and desiredsize and shape and has formedin its ainderjsuri face the plurality of substantially V-shaped v,transversetgrooves inland a central longi- .tudinallylextending substantially V-shaped f for, efficiently f maintaining the sectors in assembled relation to facilitate the ready handling of the supplemental solesv when packing, `shipping-or offering the soles for sale l upon lthe .market lFormed upon-,the outer edgevofzthe sector constituting the -toepiece of the Isole is the upwardly extending iange member 6,--and valso .formed upontheouter ends of preferably half ofy the intermediatesectors are the u-pstanding iianges 7 Theilange 6.; and .the flanges 7 are preferably .formed of malleable iron so that the flange 6 and the flanges'7 may--bebent inwardly'byany` suitable means for impinging thefouter edge of .the shoe :The liange .6 and icl-anges 7 are =pro vided with any suitable numberafofrapertures ,through which and- `into 4the shoe` sole are projected ,the secur-ing :screws 8, or other suitable securing means,.to assistwin: securing the supplemental sole upon the shoe-sole and toprovideguard:members therefor, and in vorder to preventeforeign Ymaterial, `such as sharp ypieces of tin,.fsteel,;orl other metal,

from .passing 'between =utheuneeting edges of V`theorespective Iflanges `Gerand -7 Izpreferably form the forward edges ofwtheflanges 7 iwiththe projections 9, indicatedwby dotted linesfin Fig. 2iandin a `manner that l.the projections 9-fwill y.underlie thecontiguous rear edges of the respective langeztsan'd flanges l''.

AllVithin the base plate 3 ,of the supplemental sol'e are formed a pluralityofapen tures lOithrough which Athe main securing screws 11, or other suitable-'securingfmeans. pass and` into the shoe sole 2y for Isecuring the supplemental sole uponfthe shoe sole in addition to `the iinpinging,aotiom ,of the l mental flanges 6 and l7 and the screws 8. The screws 11 constitute the primary securing members for the supplemental sole, and each semispherical calks 13 with the'head 114 ofthe*respectieve` screws seated Within the countersunk opening 12 of the calks 13,

whereby the screws 11- not w'onlysecures .the basefplate 3 of the supplemental soleftupon the shoe sole tive cal'ks 13 yin secure operative position 2, .but also secures' the respec-.,

upon the under surface'ofthefbase 3 ofv-the supplementalv sole.

The hollow -callswl' that "IA yemploy are preferably' formed semi-spherical alsxrshown,

ythough the calls maybe formedvrectanfgular, triangular or other confor-mations `-in cross section andiofany suitablefmaterial, but the Calksaree-preerably formed-fhalrdcned steel v to fprovide against ithe :excessive lwear to which thesecalks are-constantly subjected rwhen .in use in mills,.factories,f=etc., yso as to prolong the life of thefcalks 13,

well ast-he usefulnessof the' supplemental sole. The -.calks 13fare'not employed Jas vacuum cupsdn the In-annerthat lthearubber vacuum cups of a majority vof. the supplesoles rnow upon :thei marketare: employed, but are provided and havef'afthree Afold function yin that, the zcalks [131' netfonly provide feflicient anti-slip members. to prevent the 'wearer from -slipping'iwhen walking over surfacegstrewn Awith cut. landibrole'n metal, tin, or theclike, butialso'beingfof an :exceedinglyfhard metal "will wear for -a long time and thus preventeXcessive wear upon 1the `under surface 'of Athevbase .plate ofthe .supplementah soleVandatsthe same time will forman eiiicient protection to-and prevent1 wear .of the heads -14 of theimain securing'screws v11, so that, lby the ipreservation Iof the heads `14: :of ithesrnainesecuring screws 1l, or the heads of any otherse- .curing-means 'which may be employed, it is practically. .impossible to wrench.- orl otherwise dislodge thesupplementalwsole from the shoe sole .as the. heads offfthe securing ym embers are. free Ifrom=wear fand. theirs/function fas Y.securing-members unim'p aired. n

To protect the `toe portion :proper lof the boot or shoe,z.the .toe .protectoreor ,guardcap or member 15 is provided any suitable material and shape ftofcoverthe toe -of the booter shoe-and fin. suitable spaced ,relation thereto, andmay .have itsfire'ariedge extended as far back up,ontheboot=or"shoe as y desired. The ilowerwedgelof' thefprote'otor 1.15 .is provided *with a plural-it-yfof .apertures ifor yre,aglistering 'with they "aperturesffof A.the flange 6 of the to'emember of thesupplemental shoe sole and .for reoeiving'lthe screws-"8 for securing the protector 315 andl'ffthefv- Harige `6 upon/che boot .or -shoesele 2W. Theiproand formed of tector 15 has been shown as a separate member from the supplemental sole, but this protector may be formed integral with the toe member of the supplemental sole by forming the flan e 6 and the protector 15 in one piece or in ot er words by uniting the lower edge of the protector 15 and the edges of the toe member of the supplemental sole and eX- tending the rear edge of the protector 15 as far rearwardly as desired.

While I have shown and described only a portion of the sectors provided with the guard flanges 6 and 7 I may, however, supply the remaining sectors with like flanges if deemed necessary, but as the toe of the shoe sole and the adjacent side ed es of the shoe sole are the v ortions most like y to come in contact wit dangerous obstructions which may have accumulated upon the Hoor, ground, or other surface, the provision of the guard flanges or members as herein shown and described will be sufficient for ordinary purposes; and again, my invention is not to be understood as being restricted to the production of a supplemental sole only, as I may construct heel plates for the boots or shoes of workmen which will be constructed in a similar manner that my supplemental shoe sole is constructed, the only difference, of course, being in the conformation of the heel plate from that of the supplemental sole.

Thev supplemental sole may be made and sold upon the market without the anti-slipping members, if desired, to provide a sole with a plane surface to meet the needs of workmen not requiring the anti-slipping members.

While I have herein shown the preferred embodiment of my invention I may resort c0910! 0f thi! Patent mty bc obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the ing said transverse grooves to divide saidplate into a plurality of sectors, the respec tive grooves being of a depth to provide a thin flexible connecting strip between said sectors, said sectors being provided with a plurality of apertures, apertured guard flanges upon the edges of the front sector and certain of the adjacent intermediate sectors, overlapping members upon the meeting edges of said guard flanges to provide closed joints thereat and to provide for the -relative movements of said sectors and said guard ianges upon the bending of the main shoe sole, screws projecting through the apertures of said sectors and the apertures of said guard flanges for securing said supplemental shoe sole upon the bottom and edges of said main shoe sole, and anti-slipping wear members secured upon the bottom surfaces of said sectors by the securin screws projecting through said aperture sectors.

.In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN W. BECK.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. CARMICHAEL, JAMES T. BECK.

"Commissioner ot Xatents,

Washington, D. C. 

